Officials said a polar bear skull was unlawfully mailed from Canada to the US in a “gift” box.

Federal investigators say that a polar bear skull was illegally transported from Canada to the United States in a box labeled “gift.”

Now, a 27-year-old boutique owner from Montreal, Quebec, has pleaded guilty to trafficking protected animals, according to a Friday, Jan. 28 news release from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York.

According to a criminal complaint, Vanessa Rondeau, the owner of Montreal’s The Old Cavern Boutique, is accused of shipping polar bear skulls and other protected wildlife parts to and within the United States from 2019 to 2021, including a taxidermy American crow, Hartmann’s zebra skin, and bird, weasel, and bat skulls.

Rondeau’s lawyer did not immediately respond to a McClatchy News request for comment.

According to the lawsuit, in addition to transporting a polar bear skull from Canada, Rondeau traveled to the United States and subsequently mailed a skull to a special agent in New York who was posing as a customer in the state.

The complaint said Rondeau advertised the polar bear skulls on her business’s Facebook page, The Old Cavern Boutique.

According to court records, she sold one skull for $780 and another for $584.11.

Rondeau is suspected of trafficking $37,204 in wildlife parts from Canada to the United States.

She could face a five-year prison sentence and a $250,000 fine.

On June 9, Rondeau is set to be sentenced.

Image Credit: Getty

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